Social media is praised for its role in bringing people from all walks of life, from all over the world, together in one forum to discuss and debate both public and private matters.
But when Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head today at a Safeway in Tucson, the ugly side of social media reared its head. Take a look at this comment left on Sarah Palin‘s Facebook page, where she posted condolences to Giffords’ family after the shooting. It’s from Facebook/Twitter user Mark Kerr:
“Go, Sarah! Gifford deserved to die. She was a liberal, a Jew, a health care reformer, an enemy of the NRA, pro abortion and pro gay. What happened to the map? One down and 16 to go.”
The map Kerr is referring to is a map Palin previously posted on her website, SarahPAC.com, that used crosshair-like symbols to pinpoint each House Democrat who voted for health care reform and was up for re-election in November’s midterms.
Gifford was on the list, which can be found here. The map has since been taken off Palin’s website.
On Twitter, many have made up their minds that Palin is to blame. The following is from Tom Colicchio:
“Sarah Palin had Rep Gifford in her crosshairs. She is now officially dangerous.”
The shooting has quickly become, at least on social media, a fight between the left and right, and an excuse for many anti-Palin citizens to speak their minds about her rhetoric.
Markos Moulitsas, founder of the progressive political website The Daily Kos, posted this tweet not long ago:
“Mission accomplished, Sarah Palin, http://is.gd/knNgl“
The link above leads to a blog post regarding Palin’s map of health care reform-supporting House Democrats.
His tweet quickly got a response from conservative Andrew Breitbart:
“For the love of God, @markos. Stop it. Don’t go there, trust me. Trust me. Trust me. You will not like the blow-back, I assure you.”
Many are criticizing the reaction, calling for everyone to be tactful during this time of crisis, especially since we now know a 9-year-old was tragically shot dead during the attack.
UPDATE 9:08 p.m. ET: The author of the infamous comment posted on Sarah Palin’s Facebook, Mark Kerr, has stated, repeatedly, on his Twitter account that he was being sarcastic. Click here to see.